Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi speaks during a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not pictured) at the Chancellery in Berlin, Oct. 30, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Hannibal Hanschke.

African leaders meeting in Cairo agreed to give Sudan’s ruling military council more time to implement democratic reforms, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Tuesday.

The decision appears to extend a 15-day deadline set by the African Union last week for Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) to hand over power to civilians or to be suspended from the grouping. The TMC took over after President Omar al-Bashir was ousted on April 11.

Speaking at the end of a summit attended by several African heads of state, Sisi said that the meeting agreed on the need to deal with the situation in Sudan and to install a comprehensive democratic system.

The states had agreed to give “more time” to carry out these measures with the help of the African Union, Sisi said in his closing remarks at the summit.

The TMC is under pressure from protesters to immediately hand over power to a civilian administration. The TMC says it wants to oversee a transitional period of up to two years but is willing to work with a civilian government comprised of technocrats.